Emmys2009

Usually just covering the Emmys is enough to make me want to take a week long nap. But now TV shows are getting more nominations and awards than most Nobel Peace Prize Winners.

It's not just the Emmys. We've got the Golden Globes, the People's Choice Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Peabody Awards, the ALMA Awards, the E Pluribus Unum Awards. It's good to know that at least America's cabinet makers will never suffer a major economic recession.

Now the Producers Guild has announced the list of nominations for their awards and they are almost identical to the Emmys. Mad Men, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, Dexter; they're all there. Why not just show a rerun of the last Emmy Awards and everyone can turn in early?

So here it is, another season of Emmy fever has come and gone. Did you notice? Or were you busy looking at pictures of TIFF parties? Catching up on all the new shows debuting? Enjoying the last few beautiful days of the year? Yeah, me too. The Emmys are many things - well-timed is not one of them.

But that's not the only reason I can't get too worked up about TVs big show. Often, my favourite shows just aren't nominated.

So I decided to have a look at some of my favourite shows that never won Emmys - or at least I thought they never won Emmys. but once I started doing my research, it turned out the Academy totally saw me coming and headed me off at the pass. Most of my favourite shows have won Emmys. For hairstyling.

Early during the Primetime Emmys, when Kristin's name was announced for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, I don't know about you, but I let out a whoop! She won for Pushing Daisies, a show – as she pointed out in her tear-filled speech – was no longer on the air. At least one of the fine actors on that wonderful, fanciful show was recognized!

I'm not saying that I necessarily think Billy Mays should have won a posthumous Emmy, or even that his show Pitchmen should have been included in their "The Year in Reality" segment. But leaving him out of the "In Memoriam" segment? You have people from every facet of the television industry, and you leave out the most famous infomercial personality ever. Infomercials are television programming.

Yes, they're annoying at times and yes, they're not as exciting as Lost or The Amazing Race, but it's still television. Billy Mays was famous because of television. And he was famous. Virtually everyone in this country recognizes "Hi, Billy Mays here!" and that almost patented way of shouting talking he had.

But hell, even if you don't buy any of those arguments, he was one of the stars of Pitchmen, a successful reality show. You honor reality shows, right? I'm just saying, It seems to me that one of the most famous faces of the modern era on television, and one of the most powerful men in the commercial industry, could have maybe earned a quick mention upon his passing.

I know people complained about this when the nominations came out, but for some reason, it just irked the hell out of me when Jon Cryer won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy.

Not that I don't think Cryer deserved an Emmy. No, he does a great job as the uptight Alan Harper on Two and a Half Men. And, after all the failed shows and pilots, the man once known as Duckie deserves recognition for the fine actor his is... just not as a supporting actor.

In a recent interview, Jim was asked about his favorite current show -- other than his own -- and he said it was Friday Night Lights. That's right, the NBC drama series about high school football deep in the heart of Texas! Somehow it's hard to imagine Sheldon in pads and a helmet. Maybe he could be the water boy? Or the genius offensive coordinator.

It's that time of year again when they give out those figurines that signify that you are the best at what you do on television (supposedly). We have a live blog every year, but this year we're doing something a little bit different, a live chat that everyone can participate in.

Join us at 7:45 PM ET on Sunday night at the live chat page here. We'll be using CoverItLive for the chat and if you go to that link you can sign up for an e-mail reminder before the chat starts. You'll be able to join in on the conversation with your thoughts and predictions and we'll have polls and news and links to AOL's coverage of the night. Hope to see you there!

After the brouhaha developed over CBS's decision to pre-tape some Emmy presentations in order to keep the broadcast moving, it only seemed like a matter of time before the network decided that the hassle wasn't worth it. So when, thanks to The Wrap's Josef Adalian, the news broke that the Eye Network and Emmy producers were abandoning the time-shifting plan, it wasn't a big surprise.

No matter how many times producer Don Mischer explained the time shift to critics at the TCAs last week, it didn't seem that many people were convinced the ploy wasn't going to shortchange the people whose wins were among the edited group. It seemed especially galling to a lot of the writers and producers of the honored shows that whatever time was being given up was going to be used to "celebrate the best of TV" that year, whether it was nominated or not.

FX held panels for Archer and Sons of Anarchy on Friday morning, but by then press tour fatigue had set in, and the energy in the room was low for both. It was especially low for Archer, a Adult Swim-esque spy cartoon by the creator of Sealab 2021 that most of the critics hadn't yet seen. The panel seemed to be more content with answering with wise-ass remarks that made themselves laugh but the just served to make us tired masses annoyed.

Things perked up, though, when the network presented five of its show-runners to talk about what it's like to develop edgy dramas for basic cable. But since the theme of the week has invariably been "Leno at 10," the questions often came back to the fact that NBC with one fell swoop wiped out five hours of scripted drama per week. And the show-runners took every opportunity to bash the Peacock for it.

And it got ugly: "I feel they should take the American flag down in front of the building and just put up a white one," said Rescue Me's Peter Tolan, "because they've clearly given up."

The final panel of CBS's day was for the 61st Annual Emmy Awards, which the network is broadcasting. Given the controversy over the news that the academy is going to pre-tape eight awards before the main ceremony goes live and play edited versions of the presentations during the show, it promised to be a bit of an inquisition. In fact, it was such a hot topic that show producer Don Mischer was more sought after for answers than host Neil Patrick Harris, who appeared via satellite from Montreal.

Mischer showed us what he had in mind, culled from a presentation from last year's low-rated ceremony. Essentially, he trimmed the reading of the nominees, then cut a lot of the walk-up to the podium, the hugs and kisses, and some of the winner's speech. But, it seemed to keep the essence of the speech intact. Yes, I'm sure those people who are being edited might not feel that way. But Mischer has a pretty legitimate reason why he and the Academy are doing this: They need to make the broadcast more accessible.

Despite the fact that before 30 RockAlec Baldwin had primarily been known for his dramatic work, he has long been beloved in the comedy world. He's one of the most frequent hosts of Saturday Night Live, and has become somewhat of an unofficial cast member over the years. He's proven that he has no shame when it comes to comedy, which goes pretty far to explain why he went on SNL alum Jimmy Fallon's show last night in an all-white getup accented by a gold lame scarf, gold boots, and even a gold fanny pack.

Kathy Griffin is so ubiquitous these days, you might have to dust off an old cliché (and change it slightly) to describe her - The Queen of All Media.

Kathy Griffin: My Life On the D-List is getting the best ratings of its run, she was a guest on Privileged, her CD, For Your Consideration, was nominated for a Grammy, her book comes out in September, and she continues to tour as a stand-up comedian. She was also recently tapped to host the Shmemmys (The Creative Arts Emmys) and to roast her good friend Joan Rivers for Comedy Central. She may not be getting Ryan Seacrest's 45 million dollar paycheck, but she may be challenging him for most entertainment jobs held simultaneously.

I caught up with her by phone recently and had a long conversation. So long, in fact, that we have posted two different versions - this is the short one. There is an unedited version here, for those who need every last morsel of Griffin they can get.

The list of Emmy nominations have become the Hummer limo of the awards show world. They get longer and even more uncool, even though they are attempting to show just how cool they are with each passing year.

The whole system is in serious need of revamping. For the most part, the category structure hasn't changed in the last 50 years when then Academy President Rod Serling chose to eliminate favoritism by widening the playing field and the judging, a move so disastrous that no one has dared to even touch the system since then.

So if you're not going to revamp the process, at least add some categories that we wouldn't mind giving up four hours of sleep, exercise and our lives to wait for the winner.

The Emmy nomination process is clearly more flawed than a line of Dora the Explorer lawn darts.

The system is outdated and always in need of a revamping, as technology and the proliferation of programming increases every year. Some contenders are just going to get a big, ugly, high school prom date snub.

That doesn't mean the process is without its no-brainers. I'm referring, of course, to the shows that deserve special recognition for changing the course of the medium and showing the world its possibilities and not to the people actually doing the nominating. The last season of The Wire will go down as one of the biggest no-brainers of all time.